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One of the first times I ever got to preach was at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Saskatoon, the beginning place of the great Canadian revival. As I walked onto the platform, I was overwhelmed with a sense of unworthiness to preach, fixating on, of all things, a time I had continued to flirt with a beautiful girl rather than stop some bullying.
I realized that outside of God’s grace I had no business being a preacher of God’s Word. At the same time, I felt a deep longing to love Christ more and for my holiness to become a more profound reality in my life. I longed to be driven and defined by my first-love devotion to Jesus and freed to serve him in the power of the Holy Spirit as an all-in disciple.
Loving Jesus Above All Else
One of the greatest dangers in the Christian life is that we stop growing in our first-love relationship with the One who is the way, the truth, and the life.
The church in Ephesus did not wake up one morning and decide that they were not going to be defined by their love for Jesus; they drifted (Rev. 2:1-7). Drift is by its very nature subtle. This church had an incredible planter (Paul), great pastoral leadership (Timothy), incredible members (perhaps including Mary and John), and yet they had lost their first love and were in danger of having their lampstand removed.
This is why the final keystone habit of grace is so essential: Engaged in First-Love Devotion.
Christianity is ultimately about a reconciled relationship with almighty God by grace through faith, and a progressive holiness that comes by the power of the Holy Spirit. This life of godliness is inseparable from personal, heartfelt, genuine affection and devotion for Jesus Christ.
That is why the first habit of Gospel orientation is foundational, and the last habit of Engaged in First Love Devotion is needed to close the circle on the Keystone Habits of Grace.
The beating heart of Christianity is not a set of beliefs or duties—as important as those are—it is rather a vibrant, all-defining relationship with the risen Christ. I have found in my life that this is something that I need to habitually remind myself of so that I don’t drift into duty or other spiritual ditches.
We must be those who stay captivated by Christ and live in full first-love devotion to him.
Everywhere in Scripture
When we look through the Scriptures, we find this reality is all over its pages, not only in Revelation 2 or in the Great Commandment (Matt. 22:36).
David repeatedly longs for God’s presence and power (see 1 Chron. 16:11) and shouts out his devotion when he speaks of God as his greatest treasure (see Ps. 73:25). David grasped that loving God and treasuring him was more important than serving him.
This is Paul’s passionate desire when he writes, “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Phil. 3:8). Paul was certainly a master theologian and pastor, but the deepest passion of his heart was this longing to know Jesus Christ.
The greatest gift of salvation is not being forgiven or being given a purpose in the privilege of impacting eternity as ambassadors. The greatest privilege is reconciliation with God through Jesus and experiencing his love so richly that we love him completely.
There are many priorities and demands pulling at each of us as Christians. If we allow our devotion to Christ to be assumed, we will inevitably drift; but if we pursue first-love devotion, we will enjoy the Spirit’s power and foster intimacy with Christ.
Gospel orientation should lead naturally to this reality, but it can become repetitive if not relational. Rooting ourselves in God’s Word is essential to knowing the God we are to love in this way, but as the Pharisees display, this can be pursued in an unhealthy manner. Being aware of God’s presence is a delight, but it alone cannot sustain ongoing first-love devotion. Ambassadorship can drift into duty or even exhaustion if not motivated by God’s love.
Learning From the Example of the Church at Ephesus
“Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first” (Rev. 2:5). The church in Ephesus was called to remember, repent, and redo. We’ll take each in turn.
Remembering
We remember that we were spiritually dead and Christ made us alive. We remember that we were enemies and he reconciled us. We remember that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. We remember that every blessing we enjoy has been purchased through his sacrifice.
Love grows where grace is remembered. This is one of the reasons why the Lord’s Table is to be treasured by his people, as together we remember and partake of a meal that powerfully symbolizes the sacrificial death of Christ for us.
One of the reasons Christians lose their first love is because they stop marvelling at the gospel. The cross becomes familiar instead of treasured; grace becomes assumed instead of experienced; worship becomes routine instead of radical.
Repentance
Repentance is the call to turn from what we are loving in this world, or what is distracting us, and turning to Jesus. This is to be a constant pattern in our lives, as Martin Luther famously said in his first of 95 theses: “When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, ‘Repent,’ he willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.”
Building in a pattern of regular self-examination and repentance is essential to first-love devotion. This is how followers of Jesus re-align themselves and their lives with the Word and with Christ.
Redoing
The last call of the church in Ephesus is to do again the things they did at first. In other words, the basics of the Christian life. In the context of these articles, this is a call to build a life that is choosing to walk in the Keystone Habits Of Grace.
It is a call to make healthy choices that increase obedience and intimacy, including a focus on first-love devotion. One of my concerns for many Christians is that we can become experts at Christian activity while neglecting intimacy with Christ. This habit builds reminders into our lives to avoid this drift towards the loss of our first love.
When we genuinely love Christ, we long for him to be seen as who he is. We long for him to become greater, even as we decrease. We long to represent him well. This includes pursuing holiness in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Seeing Sin Differently
And when we consider sin in the context of a first-love devotion, we see it in a new light. Sin is no longer merely a violation of rules or a breaking of the law, it becomes something that dishonours the One we love. David models this well in Psalm 51, where his cry of anguish is, “against you, you only, have I sinned” (Ps. 51:4).
Of course he sinned against Bathsheba, Uriah, their families, and really the entire nation of Israel, but David’s relational intimacy with God allowed him to see correctly that the offense against the God he was called on to love vastly superseded all of the others.
Oh that we would have this kind of passion, relational intelligence, and first-love devotion.
The Overflow of First-Love Devotion
As we grow in first-love devotion, every other habit builds towards this and overflows from it. The gospel becomes sweeter. God’s Word becomes richer. Prayer becomes more relational. Ambassadorship becomes more joyful and consistent.
Everything changes when Jesus becomes our greatest treasure and we are driven and defined by our love relationship with him. I have often said that the closer we get to Jesus the more our awareness of sin grows. This means that, experientially, the closer we get to Jesus the more deeply we must be aware not only of his light and holiness, but also his grace. This explosion of love and grace frees us to serve in his strength for his glory.
May God protect us from cold orthodoxy, mechanical Christianity, and joyless duty. May he continually draw us back to our first love. May we not only be reminded of our sin when we get up to preach (as I was at Ebenezer Baptist), but also of the grace that draws us near, empowers us, and allows us to love him in an ever increasing and defining manner.
May we build into our lives a consistent remembering, repenting, and redoing.
This habit calls for us to be first-love-devotion people. To experience his love, and love with all we are and all we have. What can you do to build this remembering, repenting, and redoing into your life?
